Road-legal Batmobile replica up for auction

Historics auction house in Surrey, UK, is listing a fully road-legal Batmobile for sale. It’s not an original – the car is a replica of the vehicle used by Michael Keaton in Tim Burton’s 1989 and 1992 movies – but Historics lists the piece as an "extremely well conceived tribute."

As second-hand car adverts go, it is a little out of the ordinary, although not entirely. The original 1992 Batmobile used by Keaton in Batman Returns was auctioned in 2010 and the first ever Batmobile, driven by Adam West in the 1960s TV series, went under the hammer in January and sold for a cool $4.2 million.

Despite being designed with Hollywood looks in mind, the original "Keaton-mobile" that was used in the movies had more than just curves in all the right places.The car was voice-controlled and featured two Browning submachine guns, a jet turbine engine that delivered 1,500 lb of thrust and 0-60 mph (100 km/h) acceleration in less than 3.7 seconds.

Although pared back somewhat, the replica is no slouch either, reaching 60 mph in under 5 seconds. "It is a smooth driving car, however there’s not a lot of all-round vision – it’s a bit like a fighter jet in that sense," Edward Bridger-Stille, from Historics is reported to have said. "This vehicle is believed to be one of the best after-production, fully road-legal models ever made."

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